After watching this violent story of a British soldier during "The Troubles" in Belfast between the IRA and the Brits, several in my group commented we were glad not to have seen it alone nor at night (we went on Sunday morning). It's hard to watch. I had to put my hand up to block the screen several times to avoid the most disturbing shots. Jack O'Connell (I didn't see Unbroken--he starred in it, among others) is the hero, Gary Hook (fictitious), leading a cast of dozens, all unfamiliar to me. Speaking of which I wasn't the only one of the group who wished we had familiarized ourselves in advance with the history of the 1971 conflict. That said, we did get sorted out as the movie unfolded.
Director Yann Demange (a British TV director) and screenwriter Gregory Burke (an acclaimed Scottish playwright) make their feature debuts, winning for this picture several awards and nominated for more in the United Kingdom and Europe.
The music by Belfast native David Holmes (Ocean's Eleven (2001), Analyze That (2002), Ocean's Twelve (2004), Ocean's Thirteen (2007), Haywire, more) is good and can be sampled from this link, with a couple of lines from the movie introducing it. Also, here's an article about the composer for those who are interested.
With the intermittent use of handheld camera operators running after people, the movie is likely to induce motion picture motion sickness in those susceptible. Here's my ongoing list of MPMS movies.
I don't take issue with the critics at Rotten Tomatoes whose review average 97% to its audiences' 84. But it's not for the faint of heart.
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